


For you, I have ten.

by thestarmaker



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Shiro (Voltron), Confessions, F/M, Love Confessions, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Oblivious Allura (Voltron), allura i love and respect you so much but pls open your eyes, i think this was originally gonna be a multi-chap but i didn't feel like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24136747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarmaker/pseuds/thestarmaker
Summary: Allura is giving the paladins a routine diagnostics report on their lions, but she has to deliver the results herself. Which means she has to talk to the Paladins one-on-one, which wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that she's been trying to avoid Shiro. If her heart and her head say two different things, which one should she listen to with so much on the line?And what does Shiro have to say about it?
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	For you, I have ten.

**Author's Note:**

> no i don't know when this takes place, yes this all sprouted from two lines of dialogue

“Alright, Allura, the diagnostics are all finished up,” Coran said, handing her a stack of paper. “If you could deliver these to their respective pilots.”

“Of course, Coran, thank you,” the princess smiled and accepted the stapled pages. As she turned to find the paladins, she tried to think of where each one would be. It was a quiet afternoon, maybe some of them were in their rooms.

Sure enough, that’s where she found Pidge. She gave the doorframe a few knocks to alert the younger girl to her presence.

“Got a delivery for ya,” Allura smiled, handing her the results of the green lion. “Any idea of where the others might be?”

Pidge adjusted her glasses before speaking. “I think I saw Lance, Keith and Hunk heading for the pool, I think Shiro might still be in his room. Everything good with the lions?”

Allura felt her heart jump at the possibility of seeing Shiro alone… and tried to ignore it.

“Coran hasn’t pointed anything out,” she said to keep her thoughts moving, “so I think everything is in order.”

“Excellent, no news is good news,” Pidge replied with a nod as Allura went on her way.

She approached Shiro’s room. The door was open but she didn’t want him to know she was there. He seemed to be listening to music. That was good, he wouldn’t notice her walking by since she couldn’t bring herself to stop and talk to him. If she had one more one-on-one conversation with him she was afraid she would crumble into dust.

So she kept walking en route to the pool. Eventually she ended up running into Hunk first. He had his trunks on and was carrying a towel, having must’ve gotten separated from the other two.

“Oh sweet, I’ll go give these to Lance and Keith. All clear with them?” Hunk asked cheerfully. Allura was always thankful for his sunny demeanor, he really was the morale booster of the team.

“As far as I know,” she responded, clutching the black lion’s packet close to her chest. Everything really was fine with the lions, but some part of her didn’t want to have to let go of the last packet.

“Awesome,” Hunk smiled back, holding out his fist. Allura reciprocated the gesture and continued on her way.

She had to face Shiro sometime. She really didn’t want to think about how much more afraid she’d become recently. It was like she’d built a dam in her chest but every interaction added more and more water behind it, and she was afraid a flood was imminent. 

After an eternity with just her, the hardly-still-warm-but-just-barely paper, and the sound of her shoes on the tile flooring, she reached his room again. The door was still open, he was still kicked back in his chair with headphones on. His feet were resting on his desk, left hand messing with his metal arm, and sporting a contented half-smile on his face which scared Allura more than anything. Oh, that effortless smile…

She stood in the doorway, hesitant to even open her mouth. It was just a normal update she had to give. Just a status update on lion upgrades and repairs. That was it. Just like other times. 

Why was her heart threatening to burst so much more this time?

She knocked on the doorframe like with Pidge, but it was too soft a noise. She cleared her throat, which he did notice, taking off his headphones and flashing her a full-wattage smile that made her weak in the knees as he registered who was standing in his doorway. 

“Shiro, do you have a minute?” she breached the silence, cringing at how shaky her voice seemed.

His smile softened a bit. “For you, I have ten.”

He said it so casually, yet so warmly and the genuine kindness in his smile told Allura why she was so afraid to talk to him. He had been so openly affectionate with her as of late, and all it did was eat away at the cold feeling in her chest whenever she thought about him. 

She'd been at her breaking point already.

And that smile, that statement…

The cup runneth over.

She fell to her knees with a cry, clutching the papers to her chest.

Shiro, startled and worried, jumped up from his chair and ran to help her.

“Allura? What’s wrong? Are you alright?” He placed a hand on her shoulder and another on her elbow to help her back to her feet, but she wasn’t cooperating in the slightest. He felt her shaking with sobs and couldn’t think of what to do. He didn’t want to just leave her there, so he looked on as she began to speak.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she gasped in between sobs. “I can’t pretend like everything is fine and I feel nothing and just keep going like normal.”

Shiro looked on, so stunned and confused by her outburst he could hardly speak. He had no idea what she was talking about.

“I’m sorry – I don’t –”

“And with the war going on and I’d give anything just to have it be over so I can act like it’s fine and go about my life knowing you’re safe and happy and that I’m not putting the person I love most in danger every fucking day –”

She was too lost in the overflow to notice what she had said.

Shiro, however, caught it.

“Allura… it’s… it’s okay…” he carefully placed his hand back on her shoulder, just for emotional support this time as opposed to physical.

“No it’s not, because I have to live knowing that I singlehandedly am putting all of you through the most dangerous things you’ll face in your lives,” she began to shake, and Shiro could feel the chill of her skin through her dress. He watched a bitter smile draw itself across her lips and through her tears. He could tell she still had another burst inside of her, so he braced himself. 

“I just want the ones I love to be safe and out of harm’s way for once, and I’ll never forgive myself if anything bad happens to any of you and I can’t deal with the pressure of how deeply in love with you I am and I hate that it taints every decision I have to make because I can’t lose you Shiro but I have to swallow my feelings for the sake of the war and never let you know and just… let it eat away at me every night and… and…”

She managed to stop herself from spilling even more, but it was too late.

She buried her face in her hands, groaning.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how that slipped out,” she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

“Allura,” Shiro began, and the princess cocked her head to look at him as she heard an edge of laughter in his voice. “You were trying to keep it a secret?”

She wanted to smack him for that shit-eating grin that he now sported.

“Yes! If word got out then my objectivity could be called into question and you might have even more weight on your shoulders…” She began to fall back into a panic.

“Allura!” Shiro gripped both of her shoulders tightly to keep her grounded. She was forced to see the smile on his face and her stomach flipped.

“We all knew,” he laughed. “I had no idea you were trying to hide it, I just thought you were embarrassed to admit it.”

“What?” she screeched, feeling her face grow warm. “How – how did you –”

“You weren’t exactly subtle about it,” he sat cross-legged in front of her. “I saw all your sideways glances, how you acted different around just me, how you’ve been smiling more lately…” Shiro’s tone became softer and he brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. “The others all saw, too.”

She placed her hand on his and looked down at the floor between her legs. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she mumbled.

He lifted her face once again. “Like I said, I thought you were embarrassed by it,” he chuckled. “I wasn’t going to bring it up if you didn’t want me to, especially not in front of the others.”

Her eyes refused to meet his. “And you’ve been avoiding one-on-one with me lately, so it’s not really like I had the chance.”

A moment passed where neither of them moved. Allura could feel her pulse in her temples, the smooth metal of Shiro’s hand against her jawbone. 

Finally, she popped the silent, still bubble by moving the hand to her lips and sighing.

“I’m sorry. I really tried to keep it locked up,” she murmured into the metal, eyes still downcast.

He brushed his thumb over her lips. “I tried to get across to you that I felt the same,” he spoke softly. “You really didn’t pick up on it?”

She smiled to herself. “It must not have been that obvious if I didn’t…”

This made Shiro laugh. He pulled his arm away and leaned back on both. “Allura, me casually stripping in front of you didn’t tip you off?”

Her face turned beet red as she recalled how the last few missions ended with him taking off his suit and shirt still in front of her after they’d all returned to the Castleship. She figured he just wanted to stretch and was comfortable enough around her to do so…

“Or me casually fighting Lance for his seat between you and Keith, even though I sit on the other side of Keith anyway?” That smug grin slapped itself back on his face. “And not even me offering to help do dishes but only when you’re the one washing them?”

“Alright, Shiro, that’s enough,” Allura giggled to herself. “I was trying to ignore it in my own mind, so of course I’m not gonna let myself believe it’s reciprocated of all things.”

“Fine, fair enough, I guess.” He leaned forward again, still smirking.

She finally found herself able to look back into those piercing gray eyes as a burst of confidence ran through her. “You tried really hard to get me to notice you. That’s quite endearing, Shiro.”

This time, it was his turn to try to hide a blush by turning away. “Well, uh, yeah. I… really like you. You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. I feel like we just… go together, you know?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

She was taken aback by his sudden honesty and bashfulness. God knew she agreed, but after so long of trying to deny it she didn’t think it was possible to speak aloud yet. 

She did the only thing she could bring herself to do, and nodded.

“And you know what?” he began, shooting back towards her, “objectivity be damned. You’re still trying your best to save people. If the pilots of the lions are gone, there are no lions. Keeping all of us alive, especially the pilot of the black lion, should be the biggest priority, right?”

She felt a lot of her tension melt away. She never thought of it like that before, even though it was obvious now that she had. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she looked at him and sighed.

“Thank you, Takashi.”

Something about the way she said that, so soft and low, in a voice only meant for him to hear, broke the last bit of resistance _he_ had left. 

He raised his arm and cupped the back of her head in his left hand, feeling her hair wrap around his fingers. She leaned into it, pressing her forehead to his.

She stroked his cheek with her right hand, and extended her left hand to cover his where it lay on the floor.

Her lips ghosted his, still unsure of whether or not this was allowed. She felt desire burning up in the back of her throat. She wanted more, but was still afraid to break the last barrier.

Finally, he’d had enough, and crashed his lips to hers.

His were bitten and a little chapped, but to her they felt like home. 

He thought hers were made of silk.

They fit like puzzle pieces.

When they broke the kiss, Allura had both hands on his cheeks, and could feel both of his on her waist. They were still sitting on the floor.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” she spoke breathlessly.

“I think I might,” Shiro replied with that smirk that gave her butterflies, before going back for more.

If hunger was a flavor, it was all they could taste. So much buildup had finally led to this. So many nights of Allura lying in bed, trying to work out how much longer they’d have to fight if X Possibility happened; Shiro, paying such close attention to the way she moved during briefings that he hardly ever heard the information; Allura, waking from a nightmare and settling for comfort from the Space Mice as opposed to the only one she really wanted to see; Shiro, wondering if he should just say something directly to her already; Allura, wondering if he’d even want to be with her after the war – if they even made it to the end; Shiro, worrying every time they took the lions out if it would finally be the day they attacked the Castleship again and Allura didn’t make it….

None of that mattered now. There was no war, in this moment. Wrapped up in each other, still sitting on the floor, what was loud in them was finally quiet, and what was once quiet was now in screaming color.

Shiro pulled back first. Allura blinked her blue eyes back open, and he smiled at the dazed look in them.

“Let’s at least get off the floor,” he spoke quietly, warmly, extending a hand to her.

She took it, and they rose slowly to their feet. She brushed off the back of her dress, then looked back at him.

Now that the fear had settled, a swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach at the sight of him. She began to giggle.

He smiled back at her, and begun to laugh as well.

The sounds of pure happiness and total relief echoed back at them from the other.

Allura leaned into his chest, inhaling his scent from his soft shirt, feeling his hands begin to trace her spine, and sighed again. She felt light and bubbly, but still steady as a rock. Unshakable. The lightest touch would dissolve her but the hardest hit couldn’t break her.

Holding her, breathing in the flowers of her shampoo and feeling her beneath his fingertips, in his arms, he finally felt still. At peace. Like all those nightmares were merely within dreams themselves, and this was the only real thing. 

Allura was real and she was in his arms.

Shiro was real and she was in his arms.

There was still a war going on, but for now they would forget.


End file.
